Operating from Alaska was truly exciting and challenging as well. This CW and Digital operator is now surfing the waves of propagation from Massachusetts. The propagational adventure continues...

Monday, May 20, 2013

In The Zone - New 1

KL8DX 2012 CQ World Wide DX CW Contest Result

A large white envelope was located in our mailbox today and the content of that envelope was my certificate from the 2012 CQ World Wide DX CW Contest. I obviously busted a few callsigns as my submitted score was reduced over my final score. Anytime you can have a contest weekend blessed with good propagation, it's a great experience. Having a golden log would make that great experience an awesome experience. I will always continue to do my best with each and every contest and this score reflects that best that I could of done. Each time I operate I try to "out do" my previous years score. Of course, often times propagation here in Alaska is my biggest hurdle. I might have big plans for any given contest weekend but in the end, space weather and propagation will determine my effort or score. My 3830 post regarding this contest is listed below. As summer approaches, it won't be long before the shack falls silent and any operating will be from a portable perspective. We recently received an additional 4-5 inches of fresh snow so winter keeps haunting us. Once again, temperatures are supposed to be on the rise and hopefully we have seen the last snow flakes of this spring. It won't be long now before we take up residence in our travel trailer following the road map eastward. I've updated my NUVI with the latest maps and like the DX Cluster, it will help me find what I'm looking for. CQ Worldwide DX Contest, CWCall: KL8DXOperator(s): KL8DXStation: KL8DXClass: SOAB LPQTH: AlaskaOperating Time (hrs): 30h52mSummary:Band QSOs Zones Countries------------------------------ 160: 0 0 0 80: 11 5 5 40: 30 8 8 20: 728 19 58 15: 911 20 38 10: 199 18 20------------------------------Total: 1879 70 129 Total Score = 831,820Club: North Coast ContestersComments:Another crazy contest weekend! I was sure disappointed in10 meters this year. I'm okay with that as long as we havegood propagation in a few weeks for that band specificcontest! My numbers on the low bands are low but I have very poorantennas for those bands. Kudos to those that logged me onboth 40 & 80! Your station did 99% of the work and for that,I'm grateful! My noise is horrible on both of those bands.The CME created some nice viewing Aurora here for the weekendbut it sure made things a bit tough for the contest. We arestill losing daylight fast and it won't be long now beforewe only have 4-5 hours of daylight. Blessing is, that by next month at this time, we will start gaining daylight asthe sun slowly begins to move northward.Thanks for the contest QSO's! I have a detailed review on myblog site along with photos from this weekend. You can suretell when ya get spotted as so many call at once! I continueto hone my pile-up management skills so thanks for yourpatience! Looking forward to the 10 meter contest and hopeto see ya then! If only I had an antenna for 160 meters...73!Phil KL8DXDenali National Park, AKRig: Icom 756PRO @ 100 wattsAntenna: Mosley TA-34-XL @ 43 feetLow bands: Inverted V's for 40 & 80Logging: Win-test